AUBURN — The Auburn Arena crowd rose to its feet and let out a deafening roar when Austin Wiley moved to the scorer’s table to check into Friday’s game early during the first half.

It might have been even louder when the 6-foot-11 center posted up and hit a hook shot in the lane a little more than a minute later.

Wiley played only a small part in the 12th-ranked Tigers’ 88-66 demolition of No. 24 Washington, the second-ever nonconference game between ranked men’s basketball teams on the Plains and first since 1987. The redshirt sophomore scored five points on 2 of 4 shooting to go along with one rebound and one assist in 13 minutes of the bench.

It was Auburn’s first win over a ranked nonconference opponent at home since Dec. 5, 1970, against NC State.

“Historic night at Auburn Arena,” head coach Bruce Pearl said.

That Wiley did anything at all was significant. He sat out all of last season due to his involvement in the off-the-court actions that led to the arrest and dismissal of former associate head coach Chuck Person as part of the FBI’s investigation into college basketball. He missed last week’s exhibition and Tuesday’s opener with a left foot sprain.

Friday marked Wiley’s first game in an Auburn uniform since the first round of the SEC Tournament on March 18, 2017 (611 days ago), and first appearance on the court for any team since the third-place game of the FIBA U19 World Cup on July 9 of the same year (488 days ago).

And that the Tigers were able to run a ranked opponent out of their gym with Wiley contributing so little shows just how far the team has come since the last time the son of two former Auburn standouts took the court wearing orange and blue.

Auburn won behind a balanced scoring effort: Chuma Okeke continued his sophomore breakout, recording a double-double with a team-high 19 points (on 7-of-11 shooting) and 10 rebounds to go along with two assists, two blocks and a steak. Samir Doughty scored 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting and added four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Jared Harper and Bryce Brown scored 13 points each.

“It just shows how complete of a team we are,” Brown said. “Every night, it’s going to be somebody different. Tonight, it was Samir and Chuma’s night. The next night it might be somebody else’s night. That’s the great thing about this team; it’s not just one person stepping up. We have multiple people in double figures and knocking down shots and contributing.”

1) Early-part-of-the-first-half Auburn is the most dangerous Auburn, especially at home

If you look at only the final 26 minutes Friday, the game was very close. Auburn and Washington actually tied 50-50 from the 6:06 mark of the first half through the end of the game.

But the game was never actually that close. Auburn took an 18-point lead into halftime, started the second half on a 13-2 run and never led by fewer than 20 points the rest of the way. The reason the game was so lopsided was yet another opening-minute blitz from the Tigers.

Matisse Thybulle scored the game’s first points for the Huskies. The home team scored the next 14. Okeke hit two 3s and threw down a dunk in transition, Brown hit a 3, Doughty hit a layup and two free throws, and Wiley capped it with his first bucket.

Auburn had 24 points before Washington scored 10. The home team led 38-16 with 6:15 remaining in the first half. It’s the same thing it did three days ago against South Alabama, when it jumped out to a 32-7 lead in its season opener.

“I just feel like we’ve built so much chemistry over this summer and over the past year. I just have fun playing with these guys,” Brown said. “So it’s no surprise to us that we had a big lead like this, just because I feel like we’re so close and we always talk about getting out and getting up on teams pretty early. That’s just part of what we do, I feel like.”

Before Friday's game, Pearl said Washington's 2-3 zone defense, coached by Jim Boeheim disciple Mike Hopkins, would probably be "the best zone that I've ever gone up against."

And it did provide the Tigers some challenge. They shot 41.4 percent from the floor and hit 12 of 31 attempts from beyond the arc (38.7 percent) three nights after hitting a robust 18 for 37 against South Alabama. The Huskies actually shot better from the field, hitting 55.6 percent from the floor and 6 of 14 attempts from beyond the arc (42.9 percent).

But Auburn won the hustle stats. It outrebounded Washington 41-24 overall and 19-3 on the offensive end. The Tigers turned those 19 offensive rebounds into 22 second-chance points, which is 20 more than the Huskies had.

“Coach always talking about rebounding, offensive rebounds win games, and we knew that they play zone the whole game, so there was going to be a lot of opportunities for us to rebound, so we just tried to take advantage of that,” Doughty said. “We just crashed the glass. Coach always preaching to us that we have certain guys that have to go to the glass and rebound in certain areas, so that pretty much just favored us today.”

Auburn also had four blocks and eight steals, four of which came from Doughty. The home team turned those into 11 fastbreak points. Washington committed 18 turnovers, while the Tigers had just 11.

“I thought our defense was really good. And I thought it was obviously a factor,” Pearl said. “When Jared Harper and Bryce Brown shoot 6-of-22 and you still beat a top-25 team by 20, that’s a good sign. Great balance.”

3) It will take some time to work Austin Wiley fully back into the rotation

Wiley's long-awaited return the court was short-lived in his first stint. He subbed in at the 16:56 mark, attempted and made his first shot at the 15:48 mark, then committed a turnover and two fouls before subbing out at the 15:11 mark. He didn't play again until the second half.

The center was able to get more involved after the break, playing two separate shifts of about five minutes. He hit one shot from the floor on three attempts and one free throw on two attempts while also chipping in a rebound and an assist while only committing one foul.

“I’m sure Austin will tell you, he was just grateful at the response our fans gave him, a standing ovation,” Pearl said. “Austin Wiley hasn’t played a college basketball game since March of 2017 in Nashville, Tennessee, against Missouri. That’s the last college game he’s played. We’re in November 2018 now. So, you could tell there’s a little rust on him, but he’s going to help us when he gets in the flow a little bit. Today was his second contact day in five weeks, so great to have him back.”

Wiley brings a different element to the center position than Anfernee McLemore, who scored six points on 2-o- 6 shooting with four rebounds and a block against the Huskies on Friday. The 6-foot-7 junior is an outstanding defender a shot-blocker with the ability to step out and hit a 3. The 6-foot-11 Wiley is more of a traditional, back-to-the-basket post player.

Pearl and his staff have nine days to figure how to best fit Wiley back into the frontcourt rotation before Auburn takes the floor in Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, which starts Nov. 19. Wednesday’s home game against Division II Mississippi College should provide the perfect opportunity for a test run.

“Austin back, we’re going to have some changes a little bit in the front line, and so Horace (Spencer), Anfernee, Austin, Chuma — those guys got to learn all kind of how to play together and share,” Pearl said. “They’re all going to have their moments, but they’re going to have to all share.”